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Management information systems (MIS) is the study of people, technology, organizations, and the relationships among them. This definition, given by Mays Business School, relates specifically to MIS as a course of study. In other words, MIS is commonly used in business schools to refer to the study of how individuals, groups, and organizations evaluate, design, implement, manage, and utilize systems to generate information to improve efficiency and effectiveness of decision making, including systems termed decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems.[1] Many business schools (or colleges of business administration within universities) have an MIS department, a longside departments of accounting, finance, management, marketing, and may award degrees (at undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels) in MIS.
A good definition of MIS in practice has been given in a journal article: "Establishing and Managing Management Information Systems in Developing Countries" by Dr. Chris Prince Udochukwu Njoku. Dr. Njoku gave the comprehensive definition after a critical assessment of many definitions, some of which he cited, and described them as inadequate.
MIS professionals help organizations--big, medium and small--realize maximum benefit from investments in personnel, equipment, and business processes. MIS is people-oriented, with an emphasis on service. Although it is today increasingly built on computer hardware, software and networks, it does not necessarily have to be computer-based. In asserting this truth, E. Oz, in his Management Information Systems (3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: Course Technology,2002, p.2), wrote: “…information system does not have to include electronic equipment.”
Management information systems are distinct from other information systems in that they are used to analyze and facilitate strategic and operational activities.
